826 Interviewing Happy

The weather wasn’t bad on Friday, and Excellent Era gave their players the day off, allowing them to rest.

This was a tradition that had been around since the beginning of the Pro League. The day after a match was a day for rest, but now that they were participants in the Challenger League, Friday, their original match day, had become a holiday. Those who were used to the Pro League felt a little unused to this change.

It wasn’t just the players, but even the manager, Cui Li, felt a little lost when waking up to a day where he had no match to prepare for.

Uncertain of he should do, Cui Li eventually decided to go for a walk.

Cui Li was something of a workaholic. He was married to noone but his work, so he more or less lived in the club. Stepping out of the club this morning, the first thing that he saw was Happy on the opposite side of the road. Instantly, his mood went from bad to worse.

This really wasn’t a good season! Cui Li couldn’t help but lament. A powerhouse like Excellent Era had to fight in the Challenger League this year. Even if they won, there wasn’t anything to celebrate since it was expected, right?

Therefore, there would be nothing happening this season that Excellent Era could be proud of.

Cui Li stood outside Excellent Era with his hands on his hips, thinking about where he should go. Suddenly, an moped passed by precariously, and came to a stop after some struggle. The rider scratched his head awkwardly and greeted Cui Li, "Morning, manager Cui!"

Cui Li cheered up a bit upon realizing that he recognized the boy on the bike. Chang Xian, an intern from Esports Home that had been sent here to H City just last year. He had come along to many interviews with Excellent Era. Now that a year had gone by, he should be a full member, but his electric bike riding skills still had much to improve! Cui Li silently thanked the fact that he had yet to cross the road, otherwise it was completely possible that he would be under those wheels at this moment.

"Hey hey, Little Chang!" Cui Li laughed as he teased the other, "It seems like, compared to your writing skills, your biking skills are still in need of a lot of improvement!"

Chang Xian scratched his head, smiling in embarassment.

"Where are you heading off to, so early in the morning?" Cui Li asked.

"To do an interview," Chang Xian replied honestly.

Hearing this, Cui Li lit up. As the club manager, what he needed to consider wasn’t just the results of their matches, he had to take care of the functioning of the club as a whole. With Excellent Era out of the main competition, the attention they received this year was at an all time low. Offers for sponsorships and ads were more or less stagnant. They didn’t care about what a glorious history you had, after all. If you weren’t going to be in the public eye this season, then there was no point in making a big investment. Excellent Era’s situation wasn’t too bad, all things considered, since the public still had expectations for them, some sponsors didn’t pull away immediately, but talked with them about future plans. How they would be executed had to wait until Excellent Era returned to the Pro League.

If Excellent Era could gain attention from the media and appear in public eye more, it would definitely benefit them from the economic perspective Cui Li stood in, as the manager. More attention like this could give sponsors more confidence in Excellent Era!

Cui Li’s smile didn’t shift and he prepared to welcome Chang Xian, but Chang Xian had already gotten back onto his bike, waving at Cui Li and saying, "I won’t take up any more of your time, manager Cui, bye!"

Cui Li’s smile froze on his face, hurriedly stifling the words on the tip of his tongue. His confusion slipping onto his face.

This brat wasn’t going to interview Excellent Era? It was lucky that he hadn’t said anything yet, otherwise that would be really awkward.

Cui Li knew that though Glory was the hottest topic in eSports, there were other games as well. Esports Home was a comprehensive esports media, so they also reported happenings in these other games, but since Glory was the main focus, the interview station in City H was placed close to the only club in City H, Excellent Era.

Was Chang Xian going to interview teams from other games? That what Cui Li thought, until Chang Xian’s bike started to move, wobbling. He had a bad feeling. Around here, there were no other pro teams from other games. The electric bike wasn’t that good of a tool for travelling such distances, right? Then if Chang Xian wasn’t going to interview Excellent Era, he was going to ….

As he thought of this, Chang Xian’s bike finally got properly onto the road, turning and heading directly for Happy Internet Cafe.

To interview Happy.

In this moment, Cui Li’s heart was filled with all sorts of emotions that couldn’t be put into words, standing stunned on the side of the road.

Chang Xian rode his electric bike and crossed the road unevenly and then rode onto the pavement. He seemed to want to stop in front of the door of Happy, but his terrible biking skills couldn’t handle even that. The bike came to a sudden stop half inside the Internet cafe….

Cui Li vaguely heard screams coming from the Internet cafe. They must have been startled by an electric bike charging inside.

Then he saw Chang Xian hurriedly jump off the bike, scratching his head again in embarrassment and quickly backing the bike up to be parked properly. Then he rushed into Happy Internet Cafe.

Happy….

Though Cui Li was displeased, he had to admit that defeating Team Everlasting was quite a feat for Happy, and would make people curious about them. Getting interviewed wasn't entirely unexpected, but watching one of the workers from the the team working specifically for Excellent Era go to interview their enemy made Cui Li’s heart twist.

Out of sight out of mind!

Cui Li thought furiously, whirling in the other direction. Though it was out of sight, his thoughts still lingered on it. What kind of article would be written on Happy?

Happy Internet Cafe.

Chang Xian had rode his bike straight into the Internet cafe, almost startling the employee into calling the police. He quickly explained what happened and why he was here. The employee manning the counter hurriedly called his boss after hearing Chang Xian’s words.

Chen Guo now often lived at the rented house in the compound. Last night, they celebrated their victory over the ex-pro team Everlasting, and now in the morning Chen Guo got a call from the Internet cafe. At first she thought something had happened, but actually someone was here to interview them, and they were someone from Esports Home too. Chen Guo was shocked.

"One second," Chen Guo quickly said before turning to tell Ye Xiu to go.

"Esports Home wants to interview us? Not bad, it’s a good chance to raise our fame," Ye Xiu nodded in approval at her words.

"So, we should accept?" Chen Guo asked.

"No reason not to!" Ye Xiu said.

"But what about you?" Chen Guo knew, of course, that Ye Xiu never accepted interviews, not even the mandatory press conferences after matches. The Alliance wouldn’t ban you from playing if you broke these rules, but you would get fined.

But Ye Xiu never cared. If he was fined, then he’d pay the fine and still not go. They came to an understanding in the end. Ye Xiu was more clear about the fines from the Alliance than even his own balance, making sure to pay them every month. The Alliance was didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this stubborn guy. In the end, the Alliance even felt a bit sorry for fining him all the time, but the rules were there. If they changed them, how would they face those who adhered to them? So in the beginning there was some debate, but in the end it was just so. One side would pay the fines and the other wouldn’t say anything about his actions.

"Me? They wouldn’t know who I am anyways, right?" Ye Xiu said.

"So you’re just going to say you’re Ye Xiu?" Chen Guo questioned.

"Yup!" Ye Xiu nodded.

"Then, you’re going to accept the interview?" Chen Guo asked.

"It doesn’t matter," Ye Xiu smiled, "They won’t write that much anyways."

"Why won’t they write much?" Chen Guo was a bit disappointed.

"Because I don’t have time left!" Ye Xiu said.

"...." Chen Guo hadn’t thought that would be what he meant and didn’t know how to respond. When Ye Xiu avoided the media, it was first because he was afraid his parents would find him after he ran away from home, and force him to go back. Later on, though he didn’t need to hide from his family, it became a habit. Ye Xiu had thought he would be able to use his brother’s ID to play until he had to retire. He never thought that something like this would happen before then.

He regained his identity as Ye Xiu, and when he returned he wasn’t planning on using Ye Qiu’s name any longer. After experiencing all that once, he was too lazy to go over it again.

Chen Guo respected Ye Xiu’s wishes and simply picked up the phone, telling the guy at the Internet cafe to tell the reporter to come over.

"Uh, shouldn’t you ask the others if they’re okay with being interviewed first?" Ye Xiu asked.

"Oh yeah, you’re right!" Chen Guo immediately realized that was something she should probably do after hearing Ye Xiu ask. And, as they exchanged a glance, they knew they were thinking the same thing.

After living in the Internet cafe for so long, Chen Guo had never poked into Tang Rou’s background, but anyone would realize that she definitely wasn’t someone who had to work in an Internet cafe to keep herself afloat. With her beauty, her composure, a few pictures would earn a lot.

Tang Rou’s background definitely wasn’t simple, so maybe she wouldn’t want to be exposed to the public?